The Nigerian military on Saturday vehemently debunked a news report of an alleged meeting between some unnamed senior military officers and a Presidential candidate at an undisclosed location in Abuja, with the aim of disrupting the general elections and setting the country on fire, describing the said report as baseless, unfounded and malicious.
Acting Director Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau in a press statement obtained by Daily Spokesman said that the report was a wicked and very malicious propaganda by the purveyors, saying that there was no truth whatsoever in the so-called Thursday meeting towards plotting a Coup d’etat to establish unconstitutional order.
The rebuttal statement by the Defence Headquarters was triggered by former Minister of Aviation and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, in a tweet under Femi Fani-Kayode@realFFK, that said, “There are reports that @atiku had a secret meeting with serving military Generals in Abuja on Thursday. If true, it is troubling & has implications. What was the purpose? Why would a presidential candidate be having secret meetings with soldiers 14 days before the election?
“Is this meeting part of the wider agenda to disrupt the elections, destabilize the country, set us on fire, incite chaos and violence, provoke a coup d’etat and establisha new and unconstitutional order in our beloved country under the auspices of an ING?
“Knowing that he has no chance of winning the election, is Atiku now working with some members of the cabal, a handful of treacherous, and unpatriotic technocrats at CBN and in the private sector and rogue elements in the deep state to effect this demonic hidden agenga?’’
But General Gusau said “the Armed Forces of Nigeria notes with dismay the story being peddled around by some unscrupulous elements and it is disheartened that even politically exposed persons and denigrate themselves into joining agents of destabilization and violence in making false claims just to heighten tension in the polity.
“It needs to be stated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a professional military that is loyal to the constitution of the Federal Republic and will never be part of any evil plot against our democracy.
“Besides, the Military remains apolitical and neutral in the current political process and will not engage in the alleged shenanigans.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria will never be part of any ignoble plot to truncate our hard-earned democracy2, he added.
He stated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria hereby warn that those who engage in fabricating and spreading unfounded misinformation will be invited by the appropriate law enforcement agencies to substantiate their claims.
The general public is advised to disregard such information and go about their normal activities.”
